Modern epidemiology confirms that depression is more common in women than men whether we look at hospital admissions, population studies, suicide attempts or the prescription of antidepressants. There is a preponderance of evidence to show that it relates directly to the levels of a woman’s hormones.

The peaks of depression occur at times of hormonal fluctuation in 1) the premenstrual phase, 2) the postpartum phase and 3) the climacteric perimenopausal phase, particularly in the one or two years before the periods cease. This triad of hormone responsive mood disorders, often occur in the same vulnerable woman.

Low levels of thyroid, estrogen or progesterone can be major contributors to depression. For example, immediately after a woman gives birth to a baby, her progesterone levels begin to drop naturally. The problem comes when the levels keep dropping too far. This is the main reason women get the “baby blues” (the medical term is “postpartum depression”). During the pregnancy the progesterone levels skyrocket. This is why many women say that they feel the best mentally when they are pregnant (excluding the morning sickness of course!). Other women report that their lupus or rheumatoid arthritis goes away temporarily while they are pregnant. This is the miracle of having high progesterone levels.

Let’s look at thyroid. If your thyroid is low, one of your main complaints will be chronic fatigue. If you are tired all the time, despite getting 10 hours of sleep the night before, can that be depressing? Of course it can be. Constant fatigue can cause a depressed state of mind, which then leads to further fatigue. This is the downward spiral so many women complain about when the come to our clinic.

In 2004, we kept tract of the number of women that came to Wellness Innovations that were taking antidepressant medication. 71% of them were taking either Prozac, Wellbutrin, Lexapro or Celexa. When we ask them, “Do you think you are depressed?” most of them said, “No...I'm just tired all the time, and that’s depressing. I'm not a depressed sort of person. I just have no energy to do anything but try and keep up—and I'm not doing very well at it anymore.” We would estimate that of that 71% of those patients on antidepressants, maybe 20% of them needed to be on them. In most cases, they felt that their personal physician put them on the medication because they couldn't find anything else wrong with them.

If this sounds familiar, don’t be surprised, and don’t be mad at your doctor. Most general practitioners are not trained to spot hormonal imbalances masquerading as depression. It is also much easier for them to write a prescription for an antidepressant drug than it is to look much deeper into the cause of the problems you are having. If you are reading this and are currently taking and antidepressant, do not stop taking your medication without consulting your doctor. That can be dangerous. It can only be done under medical supervision. Our goal at Wellness Innovations is to have you on the least amount of medications possible and to use natural, bio-identical hormone therapy, nutrition, and proper exercise to alleviate your depression.